How long can I leave her???

[Linds16]

I'm going to be getting a Miniature Schnauzer puppy in a few weeks. I plan on crate training her. I will have about a month and a half to spend a lot of time with her before I start back to teaching (middle of August). I am concerned about leaving her alone while I am at work (around 8 hrs), but don't want to burden my friends with having to come let her out. She will be my dog after all, I don't want to push my responsibility off on them. Any suggestions or ideas... thanks!

[squashynose]

How old is the pup? You can't really leave a pup for 8 hours, especially not crated. You shouldn't be crating for more than 4 hours(ish) at once, and a pup isn't going to be able to go anywhere near that long without peeing, until it's older.

Can you get home at lunch to let it out and have a lil play? Or maybe look into doggy day care? A local kid you'd trust to walk the pup for you for a bit of money? That'd be cheaper than day care...

I have an 18 month old terrier mix, and I can't leave him for more than 2 or 3 hours :banghead:

[FredsMom]

My 11 week old (I can't believe she's going to be 3 months soon!!! eep!) varies on how long she can last. There are days where she makes it 2 hours and there are days she can go 4.

It is partially dependent on the size of the dog, how much water and food they are given and in what time frame before they are crated (if you feed and water the dog right before they go in the crate there is a chance they'll have an accident).

Since its a mini, i don't think they'll last too long int he crate no matter what the age as they have lil bladders. But like Emily said, the dog shouldn't be in there for more than four hours regardless.

Is there a young relative you would trust to dog walk? Don't look at it as pushing off your responsibility. The fact that you're looking for someone to help you is responsible of you. But if you feel guilty about it, perhaps look into a professional dog walker, or offer a small stipend toward a friend or relative if you don't want to do a day care.

[Linds16]

thanks for the help. i talked to a friend that lives down the street and she said she would be willing to come by on her lunch break to let my lil pup out. this is my first puppy, so i'm trying to make sure that i do everything right by my lil girl. any more suggestions please let me know.

[theresa92841]

You could also put up an ex-pen they are 4' x 4' so give the puppy more room than in a crate. That is what I did with Anisette. And you can configure it so it is longer and not square, so that it is 6' x 2'. I put her food and water at one end. A bed in the middle and a litter box (she was litter box trained by the breeder at the other end). But you could put a pee pad down instead.

Then I had a woman come at lunchtime to take her out in my backyard and play with her and give her some loving. The woman is also a dog trainer I use. And knew I would be taking Anisette to her classes anyway, which I have done.

I didn't take Anisette to doggy day care until she had all her shots. Just to be safe. Plus the doggy day care place requires it.